A new study by a national network of food banks shows that more children and adults are struggling with hunger in the Rochester region.
The study shows that one in seven residents of the 10-county area served by Foodlink is food insecure. That means they don't have reliable access to nutritious food.
For children, the rate is one in five. That means food insecurity affects 162,030 individuals, including 58,430 children locally, an increase of 11,350 over the past year.
Terra Keller, director of community relations at Foodlink, says while the charitable distribution of food is always part of the organization's core operations, they are also focused on the real causes of hunger. That includes teaching people to be more "food literate”.
"That means how to read a nutrition label, how to read a unit price, how to expand your food budget on a limited dollar and eat as nutritiously as possible," she said.
September is Hunger Action month and Foodlink has planned a series of food drives and other events. On September 21, there is a Festival of Food with tastings from more than 100 restaurants, wineries and breweries. The event is at the Public Market from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are available at foodlinkny.org and at all local Wegmans.
Foodlink has a calendaron its website showing 30 ways you can get involved in 30 days to help fight hunger.
